Games

How to Play FPL Draft – A Beginner’s Guide

Fantasy Premier League Draft is free to play and runs parallel with old-school FPL. If you’re already registered for the long-running FPL game, you can also immediately get involved with Draft.

Draft uses exactly the same scoring system as FPL with only one exception: there are no captains or vice-captains.

There are also no chips or Wildcards.

For the uninitiated or those needing a refresher on the rules, here’s a brief guide on how to play the game.

How to Play

Joining a League/The Draft

The first step is to create or join a league. Private leagues can include up to 16 managers, although the game itself states that eight is the recommended number. Eight, indeed, is the limit for public leagues (although four or six managers are also permitted) – you can enter those with random members of the FPL Draft community.

Like the traditional FPL game, leagues can run in the classic form or in the head-to-head format.

The key selling point of Draft is that each 15-man squad within a private/public league is unique, so only one team in each league can, for example, own Harry Kane or Mohamed Salah.

The draft system used is described as a “snake draft”, where managers take it in turns to select players until a squad is complete over 15 rounds. An example four-team league would follow this pattern at the draft pick stage:

Round 1: Team A, Team B, Team C, Team D
Round 2: Team D, Team C, Team B, Team A

Unlike the traditional FPL format, there are no budgets or player prices – so there is plenty of room for premium assets.

League administrators can set a draft date and time for private leagues, while public league drafts begin 30 minutes after the first team joins. Everything will need to be sorted before the Gameweek 1 deadline on August 11th, however.

Fantasy managers can build a watchlist before the draft, and this can act both as a shortlist of players you are coveting and also a list to govern your automatic picks should you be “away from keyboard”.

There is also the opportunity to take part in a mock draft, allowing you to experience the draft process before doing one for real.

Transactions

Transfers, or “transactions” as they are known in Draft, are made in three ways: Fantasy managers can make “waiver requests”, dip into the free agent pool or trade with another manager in their mini-league.

After the draft has completed, you can trade players with other managers in your league – depending on how it has been configured. Your league administrator can allow no trades, all trades unvetted or trades that need administrator/other managers’ approval.

The waivers, meanwhile, operate like transfer requests from managers who propose both the unattached player they want and the player being swapped out. A weekly deadline is set for waivers to take place and, when that is reached, they operate a lot like the draft.

Indeed, before the season starts, managers get their first waiver requests granted in the reverse order of the draft. So if you went last in the draft in Round 1, you will be the first to get your waiver request processed. However, once you have succeeded with a waiver, you then go to the back of the queue.

Things change when the season starts, with the waivers granted in reverse order of the league table. So if you’re bottom of your private/public league, your waiver will be granted first to give you the best opportunity to strengthen your team.

Inter-manager trade offers can be made each Gameweek until the waiver deadline passes. If trades in your league require approval, then the trade deadline will be 24 hours before the waiver deadline.

Players that are free agents become available once all the waiver requests and manager trades are made. These consist of players remaining in the pool and players that were released by other managers in the previous Gameweek.

Managers can draw from the free agent pool 24 hours before the Gameweek deadline and it’s on a first-come, first-served basis.

Fantasy Premier League have also published an FAQ and a list of rules on the Draft game, should further help be needed.

646 Comments Post a Comment
  1. DJDave1979
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Scoutcast immediately for a few opening price discussions and not for FWC actual decisions.

    Odd.

  2. Bambi
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    First RMT, hows this looking?

    Lossl - Hammer
    Bailly - Coleman - Cedric - Tomkins - (Schelotto)
    Mane - Sane - Dilva - Mkhitaryan - (Stephens)
    Kane - Firmino - King

    1. FPL Mentor
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Looks good but i would hold off on Bailly. Demanding talks with JM to discuss his future.

  3. FPL Mentor
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Draft #0002

    Ederson Hennessey
    Valencia Davies Douglas Lowton Tomkins
    Eriksen Sanè Manè Jota Gunnarsson
    Firmino Zaha Wood

    1.0m itb but quite happy with it at the minute. Feeling Wolves can be quite solid at the back with Patricio coming in and they can play abit too.

    Hows it look?

    1. Kolarov Fpl Legend
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Too much in defence, too light in attack.

  4. child of God
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    First draft Hennesay mendy , coleman, kolasinac salah , miki gundogan , gudmu. . . Lukaku aubameyang tosun forster cedric Williams ward

    1. Kuqi Monster
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Love the formatting

      1. Eden Wizard
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Om nom nom

  5. Drexl Spivey
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    How much longer does Mark Noble look set to take penalties at West Ham? Surely that job's got Arnie written all over it.

  6. Piggs Boson
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Hopefully Chalobah starts for Watford. Quite like him at 4.5m.

    1. Kolarov Fpl Legend
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Any starting 4.5 would be good.

  7. George James
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Not much love for Son? 8.5m after last season makes him a very good option IMO

    1. Drexl Spivey
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Rotation, as always.

  8. TheNovocastrian
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Anyone have guesses at this seasons best bargain buys?

    Limits:
    Gk - 4.5m
    Def - 4.5m
    Mid - 5.5m
    FW - 5.5m

    1. FPL ZB
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Fabianski/Ryan
      Cedric/Daniels/Docherty

      Not sure on the others, maybe Knockaert if he nails down a starting spot

  9. Eden Wizard
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    OOP so far: Saiss, Schlupp and generic wing backs

  10. OldBenKenobi
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Kids in bed, brew on, time to have a tinker 😉

    1. Red Dagger ✪
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Is that what you call it now? I've been an ex pat too long....

      1. OldBenKenobi
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        😆

  11. ♤TeddyBear♤
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Who is Watford's starting keeper?

  12. Abusement Park
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    who rotates with WHU

    1. Indpush
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Bournemouth and Southampton look pretty good with WHam. One home and the other away. Note that in week six SH plays away at Liverpool while WHam plays at home with Chelsea. The other 9/10 look pretty decent for rotation.

      https://www.fantasyfootballpundit.com/fixture-analysis/

  13. shirtless
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    First thoughts are Salah is an over priced trap...Second season syndrome..?

    A Salah & 6.0m

    Or

    B Mane & Firmino

    ??? B for me. And get Kane.

    1. Do I Not Like Orange
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      IMO to not at least start the season with Salah is a mistake. Reason being their fixtures are great, his ownership will be huge and the majority of that ownership will captain him every week. If he explodes a couple of times you could end up playing catchup from the start. Who needs that?

      FWIW I'm not going near Kane until he disproves the August curse.

    2. Kolarov Fpl Legend
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      B.) And don't get Kane.

  14. Kolarov Fpl Legend
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Already liking my first draft.

    De gea, 4.0

    Mendy, Coleman, 5.5, Daniels, Tomkins

    Mane, Dilva, Ramsey, Walcott, 4.5

    Kun, Firmino, Zaha

    Any suggestions for 5.5 def & 4,5 mid?

    1. Jacktastic
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Similar to mine

  15. Jacktastic
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Mbappe Willian Kante
    Or
    Neymar Lingard Gazinskiy

  16. Abusement Park
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Locked and loaded for GW1

    RMT

    Fabianski
    Mendy Coleman Tomkins
    Sane Hazard Eriksen Deulofeu
    Aguero Firmino Tosun

    Hamer Cedric Masuaku Schelotto

  17. Lord Bendtner
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Hi ! thoughts ?

    Fabianski Leno
    Coleman Douglas PVA (Bednarek/Daniels ?) (Robertson/Mendy ?)
    Jota Ramsey Sigurd Sane (Elyounoussi/Maddison ?)
    Aubam (C) Firmino (VC) Reid
    +0.5

    Daniels for more goal threat ?
    Robertson for no WC & Mendy fitness ?
    Elyounoussi for early fixtures ?

  18. Alex_thekid
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Any good movies netflix or amazon docs movies worth a watch anything good recommend please people's?